高架公交能解决中国交通困境吗?
Can An Elevated Bus Solve China's Traffic Woes?
高架公交能解决中国交通困境吗？
To state that China has traffic issues is an understatement. A 2015 study conducted by navigation system maker TomTom revealed that the country is home to five of the top twenty most traffic congested cities in the world. Though Chinese authorities have tried to control the traffic flow with tactics that range from charging road tolls to building expressways with 50 lanes, nothing appears to be working. Now, some engineers are proposing an ingenious solution to ease the country’s traffic woes — An elevated bus that glides over cars
中国不仅存在交通问题，而且相当严重。据高端导航领导品牌TomTom在2015年的调查中显示，中国在20个世界最拥堵的国家中排名第5。虽然中国政府也尝试过很多解决方法——从收过路费到修有50条小道的高速公路，然而并没有什么卵用。现在，工程师又想出一个办法——使用高架公交，让公交能从私家车上方开过去。
The concept for the “straddling” or elevated bus was first introduced six years ago at the 2010 China Beijing International High-Tech Expo. However, while the idea generated a lot of excitement, the bus never became a reality due to safety concerns. Since then, Song Youzhou and his team have been working hard to perfect the design.
“跨越”或高架公交车的概念在2010年北京国际高科技博览会上首次提出。但是，虽然这个想法令人十分激动，却因安全问题一直难以付诸实践。从那时起，宋玉洲和他的科研小组一直在为改进设计而努力。
The new and improved Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) that was unveiled at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo on May 22, is a cross between a subway and a bus. Designed to run on rails, it covers two lanes. However because the bus is elevated 2-meters (6.5-feet) above the road, it allows vehicle traffic to continue flowing unabated. Retractable ramps enable commuters to board and disembark the bus at predesignated stations.
今年5月22日，第19届北京国际高科技博览会上，改进后的“高架公交”首次亮相。外形介于地铁和公交之间。最初设计让它在铁轨上驱动，还有两条配套轨道。但由于高架公交底部离地面有两米之高，下面汽车还能正常行驶。可伸缩的斜坡可以在预定站卸载汽车。
The inventors believe that with a capacity to accommodate up to 1,400 passengers at a time and a maximum speed of 60 km per hour, the TEB is a better and cheaper alternative to subways. According to Youzhou, each elevated bus will cost about $4.5 million USD or about sixteenth the price of building a new subway.
发明者认为，这种高架公交一次能容纳1400名乘客，最高时速高达60千米每小时，比地铁更实用划算。每辆车成本只有450万美元，仅占修建地铁成本的十六分之一。
Though some critics are still opposed to the idea, officials of the coastal city of Qinhuangdao seem to be willing to give it a try.
虽然外界有很多人反对此想法，滨海城市秦皇岛正打算试一试。
译文属原创，仅供学习和交流使用，未经许可，请勿转载。
